Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had recent conversations with the National Joint Council on the potential impact of increasing the standard mileage and fuel rates for NHS workers in line with the increased cost of petrol.

We have had no recent discussions with the National Joint Council. The reimbursement of travel costs for National Health Service workers is a matter for the NHS Staff Council, the partnership of employers and NHS trades unions. This is addressed in the NHS Terms and Conditions, jointly agreed by employers and the NHS trades unions.

The current rate for staff who use their vehicles to make journeys in the performance of their duties is 56p per mile, which is above HM Revenue and Customs’ approved mileage rate of 45p per mile. This rate reduces after 3,500 miles to 20p per mile. The NHS Terms and Conditions sets out the process for reviewing the rate of reimbursement every six months, which includes reviewing fluctuations in fuel prices.

The NHS Staff Council has recently published a joint statement on mileage, where the Council commits to write to the Department on the scope and the remit to undertake a possible review. The joint statement is available at the following link:

https://www.nhsemployers.org/sites/default/files/2022-05/009%20NHS%20SC%20-%20Joint%20statement%20on%20reimbursement%20of%20travel%20costs%20in%20England%20MAY%202022.pdf